Value on 1903 Springfield w/Bishop stock "nice"

offeror

What's it worth, given only this information -- '03 Springfield bolt action, Bishop stock, 'nice' condition? Reason I'm asking is, someone not too far away is selling one for $200, and that's all I know so far. I'm thinking I should be scrambling for the dough and driving up there, but before I panic I'm checking with those who have more truck with these rifles -- if any.

T. Jefferson: "[When doing Constitutional interpretation], let us [go] back to the time when [it] was adopted. [Rather than] invent a meaning [let us] conform to the probable one in which it was passed."

NRA Life Member

captkirk3@dslextreme.com

Gonna depend upon what was done to the Action....If its only had the Bolt Drop Forged and a Scope put on it...$350.00 Maybe...? kinda gonna have to be your call...I've always been Partial to the Venerable 06 anyway...and I've owned a few Sporterized 03's in my day...so....yeah....I'd say Anything under and up to Three and a Half is a Good Deal....Of Course its gonna have to be pretty Clean..Go Look at it....If Its clean and shows a little History such as Tender Love and Pride of ownership....Buy it!...Hell...its only Money............

Captain Kirk, Tech Staff

nmyers

I never had much use for sporterized '03's. About the only thing that they are good for is as a knock-around deer rifle. And they are still HEAVY.

I would expect one to sell in the $150-200 range. If you have a little more than that to spend, you can buy a modern bolt action that will be lighter & easier to mount a scope on.

Neal

Hangfire

Also look closely at the wood , inletting and quality of metal work.A sloppy sporterized military has absolutley no value to me!If its truley custom quality, then its a bargain.Too many nice used commercials around.

Love them Pre-64's!!!!-Bob

I apologize if I'm stateing the obvious, but you do realize Bishop was ,along with Fagen,a supplier of aftermarket stocks sold to anyone.Semi-inletted and finished stocks done by amateurs can be a joke.

Wheelgun

Another thing to consider is the serial number range of the gun. The strongest of the Springfield built 03's are numbered above (approximately) 1,275,000. There's some debate over whether lower numbered guns should even be fired at all.

That said, I've got a "high number" sporterized '03 in the 1,371,000 S/N range that I wouldn't sell for the $275 I paid for it 10 years ago. On the other hand, I've seen literally dozens of 'em I wouldn't give 100 bucks for....[xx(]

Mark

Snellstrom

Hey one more thing to look at is the barrel, I bought a Sporterized 03 with an ugly handmade stock and the barrel was a 2 groove. I bought it anyways and burnt the stock in the fireplace and sold the barreled action for more than I bought the whole thing. The strange thing is someone went to all the trouble to "turn" the barrel even though it was a 2 groove.

offeror

Thanks. Exactly what I needed. I hadn't been aware of the Bishop brand "Monte Carlo" wood stocks -- I talked to the guy today and he has what sounds like a nice example of the sporter you've all described (bead front sight on unmarked barrel with bright rifled bore, good bluing, receiver clearly marked Springfield, buttplate marked Bishop, good wood, nice overall presentation), but he bought it from a gun show dealer 10 years ago and I'm going to assume he got what he paid for and take a pass on it. He hasn't shot it much since he got it other than to determine it works as advertised.

Frankly, I'd rather have a Rem 700 some day if I'm going to get a real sniper-platform bolt action rifle. Of course, for $200 there aren't many values out there (maybe an import rifle) and an 03 or a Mauser can be a pretty good knock-around shooter for the money, but I'm no expert on these old bolt guns, and this just doesn't sound like the one for me, particularly since I'd have to drive all the way to the lake country to get a look at it. I figured I could count on a concensus here. Thanks.

T. Jefferson: "[When doing Constitutional interpretation], let us [go] back to the time when [it] was adopted. [Rather than] invent a meaning [let us] conform to the probable one in which it was passed."

NRA Life Member